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130 C HISEL A
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132 M USCLE FUEL:
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Because fit is the new rich

TRIPLE
THREAT

TRIATHLETE AARON ROYLE HAS HIS EYES FIXED ON

A GLITTERING PRIZE: WINNING OLYMPIC GOLD FOR
AUSTRALIA IN RIO. YOUR MOVE: WATCH AND LEARN

PHOTOGRAPHY: JEREMY PARK

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JANUARY 2016 124

ELITE
ELITETHE ROAD TO RIO

01/16

AUSTRALIAN

NEW SERIES

THE LEAN
MACHINE
AARON ROYLE KNOWS ALL ABOUT
PRIMING THE BODY FOR MIGHTY
FEATS OF ENDURANCE. FOLLOW HIS
LEAD AND TRANSFORM YOURSELF
INTO AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE
BY

DANIEL WILLIAMS
JEREMY PARK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

WISE HEADS KNOW the best thing

that can happen in childhood is
anything that profoundly inspires
you. The right happenstance at the
right time can spawn in the young
mind a dream so tantalising that
youll do whatever is necessary to
make it come true. From then on, the
rest of your life or a good chunk of it
has purpose. And apart from the
love of another and bread on the
table, what else does a man need?

FAST FACTS
NAME

Aaron Royle
AGE

25

SPOR T

Triathlon
(Olympic dista
nce)
1500m swim
40km cycle
10km run
LIVES

Wollongong,
NS

HEIGHT

180cm
RACE WEIGHT

67kg

BODY FAT

4.5 per cent

OLYMPIC QUAL
IFY

17:52 (swim)
58:36 (cycle)
32:44 (run)

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JANUARY 2016

ING SPLITS

For Aaron Royle such an

experience occurred on
September 16, 2000 day one of
competition at the Sydney
Olympics. Then a pint-size
10-year-old and promising
swimmer, he had travelled down
with his family from their home
in Newcastle for a night at the
pool. The boy watched wide-eyed
as the last race, the mens 4x100metre freestyle relay, culminated
in a sprint finish between the USs
Gary Hall Jnr and local hero Ian
Thorpe. Hall was a world-beating
100m specialist and fresh as an
alpine lake; Thorpe hours earlier
had won the 400m and seemed to
be tiring, falling half a body
length behind. Inconceivably,
Thorpe surged, passing Hall with
a stroke to spare. The roof
lifted, remembers Royle. Even
now when I think about it, I get
goose bumps.
From that night, Royles
mission was to become an
Olympian. Fifteen years later hes
effectively licked it, booking his
ticket to Rio via a top-10 placing in
a qualifier held on the citys
Olympic course last August.
His story is a lesson in whats
possible. Unblessed by
outrageous natural talent, he has
achieved what he has through an
unshakeable commitment to
gruelling training, alongside a
determination to crash through
what he had perceived to be his
limits. Thats the mindset you
need in triathlon right now, says
Royle. You have to be prepared
to push yourself over the edge.

BEND IT, DONT BREAK IT

Actually, thats maybe only halfright, clarifies Royle as we chat at
Diggies cafe at North Wollongong
Beach. Its here that most
mornings Royle assembles with
his partners in self-punishment,
fuelling up on black coffee in
preparation for training slogs that
last for hours. Aarons polite and
unassuming, says Diggies
manager Elise Flowers. He also
has no ego or much less than
some of the older, high-achieving
recreational cyclists who also
frequent the cafe.

Extracting the best from

yourself requires judgment, says
Royle. You need to understand
that your body does, absolutely,
have its limits. Take the time
swine flu struck down Royle in
Abu Dhabi last year. Trying to be
sensible, he spent 10 days in bed
once home. But then, against
the advice of my coach, I rushed
back for a WTS (World Triathlon
Series) race in Auckland, recalls
Royle. Halfway through the
bike leg I pulled over and
thought, What the hell am I doing
here? Im an idiot.
So, yes, there are limits. But in
good health theyre probably
much further away than you
think, says Royle.
One likely difference between
you and an elite triathlete is that
you are your own master, maybe
a gentle one. When distress kicks
in, you quit. Royle, on the other
hand, has a coach Jamie Turner
who will demand he persist.
You need to have a bit of faith
in your coach . . . trust that he
knows what hes doing, says
Royle. In the lead-up to a big race a
few years ago, Royle trained twice
a week with fellow triathlete
Ryan Bailie in a heat-and-altitude
lab at the NSW Institute of Sport.
With the dials set to 36C, 80 per
cent humidity and an altitude of
3000m (about 800m higher than

Mt Kosciuszko), Royle went hell

for leather on an exercise bike and
treadmill for 90-minute sessions,
each draining him of 3-4
kilograms of body mass and
spitting him out delusional.
Jamie, every week, just kept
pushing and pushing to see how
far we could be pushed, and I got
pushed to the limit, Royle
recalls. Luckily, before I fell off
the edge, I caught myself and
ended up winning the under-23
world title.
Falling off the edge, Turner
explains, means taking your
body to a place from which it
cant rebound. That seldom
happens, he reassures.
Using another metaphor,
Turner urges Royle during
training to pound the rock. It
may take 101 blows for the rock
to crack. But it wasnt the last
blow that did the trick; it was the
cumulative effect of the 100
before it.
Aaron gets that, says Turner.
Hes able to pound the rock.
Athletes who cant, who are
looking for instant gratification
. . . theyre going to struggle.
Ranked ninth in the world at
time of writing, Royle has his
sights set on the greats. You look
at [British triathletes] Alistair
and Jonathan Brownlee, he
says. Theyve been injured the

past couple of years, but theyre

the best the sports ever seen and
they continually try to get
themselves right to the edge.
Maybe theyre injured
because theyve pushed too
hard? No doubt, concedes Royle.
But the mindset of the best in
the world is that theyd rather
have four great years than 10
good ones.

STRIDE TO GREATNESS
Right now Royle is pounding the
rock with a specific goal: he
needs to shave time off his run.
His swim and bike legs are
excellent; theyre setting him up
for a glorious finish. But while
his runnings good, its not quite
good enough. If you want to
win the Olympics, youll have to
run a sub-30 [minutes], says
Royle. For him, that means
carving something like 20
seconds off his 10-kay PB.
Seems like a tough ask for a
guy whos trained as much as he
has honestly, what more can he
do? But Royle is undeterred. I
just need to get stronger so I can
go with the best over the last
couple of kays, he says.
Winning comes down to who
can stay at that higher-end
threshold for the longest.
To this end Royle runs six or
seven days a week, often twice a

>

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YOUWANTSTRENGTH
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MAXM
I SIPEERFORMANCE
ANDPREVENTINJURIES

day, principally at speeds

ranging from a doddle (5:00min/
km) to darn quick (2:40min/km).
He also has a sprint coach, Paul
Hallam, because theres always
the possibility that the Olympic
triathlon will come down to a
dash between two, three or more
(spent) athletes.
Royles had to develop the
belief that theres speed in his
legs as well as miles. And hes
acquired not only correct sprint
technique but also the discipline
and wherewithal to employ it
when his lungs are burning and
his legs are fairy floss. You have
to stay relaxed through the
shoulders, he says. And keep
driving your arms while not
letting your hips drop. The rest
of the world is improving every
year. Ive just got to improve at a
quicker rate than they are.

Built to Last

When youre a cardio king like Aaron Royle,

its imperative you train your muscles lest they
waste away. In my sport, you want strength
without bulk to maximise performance and
prevent injuries, he says. Heres your eightstep workout for a strong, supple and
balanced frame that will go forever.

127

JANUARY 2016

ONE-LEGGED SQUAT

Stand upright with your right leg off the ground,

arms out in front of you. Bend your left leg and
slowly lower yourself towards the floor, keeping
your back as straight as possible. Drive yourself
back to the start position using your glutes and
quads. Do 6-10 reps, then repeat on your other leg.

02

PLANK

Hit the floor with your body straight and core

braced. Hold yourself still on your elbows for at
least 60 seconds, but build up over time to planks
lasting up to three minutes. Increase difficulty in
due course by lifting one leg off the floor.

Directions

After warming up, perform these exercises as

a circuit. Theres no rush; your aim is not to
burn fat but to build and fortify your body, so
focus on form and muscular isolation.
Complete the circuit three times, resting for
two minutes between each circuit. Do the
workout every other day.

DOTHEWORKOUT
SCANTHEPAGEWITH
THEVIEWAAPPTOPUT
AARONSCIRCUITON
YOUR PHONE

03

DUCK WALK

Assume a deep-squat position. Locking your core

and keeping your upper body straight, place your
hands behind your head like a suspected felon.
Walk forward 10m, taking short, controlled steps.

RIDE OUT ROUGH TIMES

06

DUMBBELL
ROTATIONS

Aaron Royle is
determined to make
a splash in Rio.

ILLUSTRATIONS: BRINDEAU MEXTER

Any guy who trains while others

sleep, whose body routinely
aches from overexertion, knows
about doubt. You have your
days when you hate it, of
course, says Royle, especially
the days that dont go so well, or
youre coming back from injury
or illness and you know youre
not performing at a level
anything like what you know
youre capable of.
Even then, deep down, Royle
knows he loves what hes doing,
and until the next wave of
enthusiasm rolls in hell fall back
on habit to stay afloat. The
routine of what I do is all I know,
he says. Its all Ive ever done: I
get up, swim, bike, run, eat,
sleep, repeat. Its all I know.
Its no picnic. But what is thats
worthwhile? Give up and
squander the hard work? Forget
it. Royle pushes on in pursuit of
the goal conceived on that heady
night poolside over 15 years ago.
Its hard to explain the
feeling you have after a good
race, he says. If I could bottle
that up and have it every single
day . . . Sure. But then the
possibilities that await him in
Rio wouldnt be so magical,
would they?

01

Hold a light
dumbbell in each
hand out in front of
you, elbows bent and
forearms perpendicular to
the floor. Isolating your
shoulders, slowly raise the
dumbbells until theyre
alongside your ears. Lower
and repeat for 10-12 reps.

04

RUSSIAN TWISTS (WITH

MEDICINE BALL)

Lie on your back, knees bent, clutching a medicine

ball of moderate weight to your chest. Pin your feet
if you want. Engage your core and slowly lift your
torso to about 90. At the top of the movement,
twist to one side and then the other, feeling the
movement in your obliques. Do 10-15 reps.

07

GLUTE BRIDGE

Lie on your back, knees bent so your feet are flat

on the floor. Locking your core and squeezing
your glutes, lift your butt off the floor and hold for
5-10 seconds. Lower under control and repeat for
10-20 reps.

05

SWISS-BALL CRUNCHES

Lie on your back on a Swiss ball, feet planted on

the ground. With your hands crossed on your
chest (weight plate or medicine ball optional) lift
your torso by crunching your abs. Lower under
control. Do 20-30 reps.

08

SINGLE-LEG STAND

Stand upright, then lift one leg off the

ground and hold for 30-60 seconds. To
further improve balance, close your
eyes throughout the exercise. Repeat
on the other leg.

JANUARY 2016 128